2009 Aussie Millions

Day 1c completed

Posted 01-21-2009 01:06 GMT+12

Bring on Day 2!

The final of three Day 1 flights has come to an end here at the 2009 Aussie Millions Poker Championship. Day 1c brought out the biggest field -- almost 50% bigger than each of the previous two flights -- and the most notable names. The old-schoolers were represented by names like Rheem, Nelson, Hansen, Juanda, Laak and Hachem. The young guns sent their own stable of players, such as Dwan, Sabat, Timoshenko, Tran and Guzzardi.

It was a field of locals and internationals alike, professionals and amateurs. Some were making the transition from previous competitive endeavors such as cricket, boxing and tennis; others were here chasing a dream of fortune and glory. Some probably just thought it would make a nice vacation.

The hands played out across the whole span of the Crown Poker Room, and by the end of the day a starting field of 288 had been reduced in half to approximately 143. The unofficial overnight chip leader is Ben Charlton, who amassed an impressive 161,000 chips during the course of the day. That puts him in second place behind Day 1a chip leader Chris Chronis.

Tomorrow, the whole field takes the felt together for the first time. Levels on Day 1 were ninety minutes; for the rest of the tournament they will switch to a staggeringly patient two hours. That should give the players lucky enough to survive the Day 1 minefield plenty of opportunity to let their skill come to the fore.

Action kicks off at 12:30pm local time. Until then, you can find us at the bar.

Round Two to Balaban

Last time Jeff Fenech got the best of Tim Balaban. This time the judges scored the round for Balaban. He was all in preflop with and was called by Fenech's . The board ran out to give Balaban the win and the double-up.

Tags: Jeff Fenech, Tim Balaban.

"It's Simple...Run Good"

Tom "durrrr" Dwan didn't set the world on fire here in today's Main Event after only arriving in the country this morning. Somehow we think he had his mind focussed on the high stakes games online, as well as the $1 million cash game here at Crown later on in the week.

Earlier this evening, PokerNews own Gloria Balding caught up with the online poker phenom.

Three... Two... One...

The tournament clock is paused. The staff have been instructed to deal three more hands at each table and then bag and tag all survivors. After three days, Level 1 is finally almost over.

Balaban Snatches Salvation from the Jaws of Elimination

Tim Balaban has just been saved from elimination, for now. Balaban moved his 5,125 chips in holding preflop and Jeff Fenech made the call with .

The flop gave Balaban an inkling of hope, the improving his chances, but still left him on the brink of elimination without a five, eight, jack, queen, king or ace river. The on the river was just what the doctor ordered, saving Balaban from the grips of the rail. For a little while at least.

Tags: Jeff Fenech, Tim Balaban.

Ben Charlton Claims Tournament Lead

With 28,000 already in the pot on a board of , Ben Charlton was faced with a huge decision as his opponent moved all in at the pot for all of his 51,250 chips.

In the biggest pot of the tournament, Charlton tanked for a long time before making the call. He tabled for the straight and the lead as his opponent was trying to protect his set holding .

The river bricked the and Charlton's straight holds to eliminate his opponent and climb to a tournament-leading 170,000 chips.

Tags: Ben Charlton.

Another Disappointed Player Heads Home

Cries of "F*ck! F*ck! Jesus Christ!" brought our attention to a table in the center of the tournament floor where a three-way all in had just gone down. As best we could reconstruct the action, one player bet 7,000 on a flop of . A second player moved all in for 6,500; a third player called. The turn came . The first player moved all in for 12,000; the third player called again. When the river fell a non-spade queen, the first player proudly turned over his pocket queens; the second player angrily threw down pocket aces, and the third player turned over . It was the player with pocket aces (of course), the one who had been eliminated, that caused a scene.

Rational, disinterested observers like ourselves noted that, although the beat seemed really horrible (it looked like a two-outer), the player with aces actually had to dodge a significant number of cards: any king, any queen, any ten, and any spade. We understand his disappointment though.

On a nearby table, Joe Hachem can't wait for the end of the day. He's been thirsty for a scotch for about a half hour now and finally decided to buy a round for his whole table.

Diamonds are Mike Manttan's Best Friend

Our reporter arrived on the scene at the river with the board reading . Both players were holding flushes that weren't the nuts, so the hand was going to come down to whether either player could make a big laydown. In this case, both players thought their hands were good. Ewan Morgan showed down his which was trumped by the of Mike Manttan.

Manttan scooped a pot worth approximately 65,000, to move his stack up to 93,000. Morgan drops to 44,000.

Tags: Ewan Morgan, Mike Manttan.

Waggoner Eliminated

It's been a longer day for some of these players than others. Marsha Waggoner was grinding it out all day, trying to accumulate a stack, but it didn't work out for her. She moved all in for 9,500 in a three-way pot with the board showing . Andrew Jeffreys called with , a hand that had Waggoner's crushed. The turn and river blanked out to send Waggoner home.

Tags: Andrew Jeffreys, Marsha Waggoner.